Tuesday, September 27, 2016

We made the trip up to Chicago for the 2016 Chicago show, and I really enjoyed myself. Got to see a lot of people I hadn't talked to for awhile, and dig through a few buckets of plastic. My son, now 6, got to purchase a few loose figures that he picked out all on his own (all Marx, good taste).

For myself, I mostly picked up older, loose Barzso figures that I needed, including several character figures. Ron was great, helping me figure out what I needed, and what came from which set.

Long John Silver and Alice

Molly Pitcher and Davy Crockett

The whole Barzso haul, 2016 Chicago

I also had a nice conversation with the gentleman from LOD Toy Soldiers, about his Battle of Troy figures. They are really nice, and I hope he sells a ton of them and continues to put out new figures.

Other highlights included the new Vietnam figures from TSSD, Seeing all of Paragon's cool stuff, and wandering through the Wm. Britain's room, seeing all their cool painted metals. If I was to make the jump to metal, I would definitely start there. Ken Osen is a master at sculpting and research.

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Hey all, it's been awhile since you've heard from me. I'm still here, doing real life stuff and all.

I recently put some of my Confederates back up on Ebay, so if you want a couple bags, you can pick them up there. I'm selling (and buying, which is more common) as "r.steal".

I'm going to go basement diving tonight, see what else I can put up for sale.

I attended GenCon this past weekend in Indianapolis, the largest gaming convention in the world. Picked up several pieces of the Wings of Glory game by the maker Ares. It's a cool WWI dog-fighting game with awesome pre-painted miniatures. Whether I'll ever actually play it, I don't know. But I do like the minis.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Just wanted to let you know that I've restocked some dealers with the plastic Confederate Infantry. So if you are in need, check with Toy Soldiers of San Diego, Classic Toy Soldiers, and Michigan Toy Soldiers. I'm sure some of the other dealers probably still have some in stock too.

You can still purchase directly from me, but honestly, it will probably take a day or two longer to get your order out to you.

The Indianapolis toy soldier show is coming up on April 12th, and I'm hoping to be able to make it down there for that. I won't have a booth, but there are usually a few guys there that sell my figures, either the Marx-Man or the War Store, so be sure to check out their stock.

It must be something in the weather, but I've gotten a few random emails asking whether I'll do another set. The answer is..... I highly doubt it.. Put your faith in TSSD, Austin Miniatures, Paragon, CTS, Barzso, and X-Force. They are all releasing some super cool plastic these days, so check them out if you haven't already.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Hey All, just got the final pictures of the Marine from the sculptor, and it's all finished up. I had him do a few touch ups on the rifle to get it right. I should receive the sculpt in the next week or so. The guys I have doing my metal figures are currently working on a third run of the Union marching figure, along with prepping a couple more poses for molding and production. Once those are done and in my hands, the Marine will go in for molding and production.

Saturday, October 4, 2014

I just heard back from the casting guys, and the figures would be, at best, extremely difficult to produce in resin. These figures were designed to be done as injection molded plastic in China, so converting them to be spin-cast will take some work. They are putting together prices for me right now, and if those look good, we'll go ahead and see if we can get them done in metal.

In the future, the figures may be able to be designed so that resin is a possibility.

Price wise, it really wouldn't make too much of a difference anyway. The figures would probably be about the same... especially at the low volume that we would be making.

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

I dug out a couple old prototypes from what was supposed to be our second set of Civil War last night. Made a few phone calls, and had a good conversation with a manufacturer about all our options in how to get these made in either metal or resin. Both options are on the table, so I'm shipping them out today to see what they can do. I'll let you know what we decide, if anything.

There were six poses intended for that second set. We've already cast one in metal, and I'd love to add the other five to the mix at some point.

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

I picked up a set of the new Austin Miniatures Marines at OTSN. These are super cool, and will fit perfectly with all your current production WWII figures. I talked with the owners for awhile at Chicago, and got a sneak peak at their Japanese prototypes as well. This is definitely a company to support, as they've got some great figures so far. The figures are available exclusively from Austin Miniatures.